This invention relates to packet-switched communications via satellite links. A class of communication networks employ packet-switched routing. Typically, linking is established by local communication paths and local traffic management in which the traffic management mechanism is only in communication with those nodes through which traffic is actively passed. Traditional routing approaches are unable to discover routes to nodes for which there is no current active connection. In a demand assigned satellite network, a node may be directly connected to any other node, upon request, but may only be able to support a small number of connections at any time. A mechanism is needed for finding routes, and optimizing routing where dynamically changing links such as a demand assigned satellite link are in the path.